


Baby Steps

by Amorfati32



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Baby Fluff, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-27
Updated: 2017-12-27
Packaged: 2019-02-22 17:16:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13171557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amorfati32/pseuds/Amorfati32
Summary: Mulder and Scully try for their second miracle





	1. Chapter 1

It happens on William’s first birthday, after the little boy has spent the best part of the day racing around the garden, tearing open more presents than they can accommodate in their house, and overdosing on sugary treats. Before Scully can steer her son towards the bathroom, ready to get him cleaned up for bed, he falls asleep in her arms, and there’s no sign of him waking anytime soon. His bath now forgotten, she instead retreats to the living room where Mulder is busy attempting to tidy up after their family gathering. She tells herself she’ll just pause for a few minutes, to savor the peace and calm after their long, busy day, and then she’ll help Mulder with the cleaning up. He doesn’t mind however; he knows she was up early with an excited little birthday boy while he was able to catch an extra hour’s sleep. 

“It’s no use Scully,” Mulder says, groaning as he bends down to retrieve an errant piece of wrapping paper caught beneath the sofa. “We’re going to have to move house.”

“Again? We’ve barely got unpacked after moving in here.”

“We don’t have room for William’s toys.” He looks over at a rocking horse sitting in the corner of the room. “We’ll need an extra garage just for that.”

“You just want it out of William’s way so you can have a go.” Smiling, Scully presses her lips to her son’s fair hair. It had been a good day. They’d held a small party for William, with Scully’s mom, brothers and their families attending along with the Gunmen, who’d for once been on their best behavior. The kids had all played together without any fighting, and Bill had even managed to remain civil to Mulder, no doubt reaching the conclusion that now that Mulder and Scully were living together and had a child with one another, he was here to stay. It had been a very good day.

“I’d be willing to demonstrate it before Will tries it out for himself.” The floor now as clean as it can possibly be despite being covered in toys all needing a home somewhere in the house, Mulder straightens up, then moves Scully’s cup of tea closer towards her. “Thank you.”

“Do you think he’ll let us sleep in tomorrow?” he asks, taking a seat next to her and wrapping an arm around her shoulders. Taking care not to jostle William, Scully leans back into his embrace, sighing contentedly. She’s been doing that a lot recently, and Mulder only hopes he gives her cause to continue. “That’s wishful thinking.”

“He was up early this morning.”

“He’s your son Mulder. He’s inherited your ability to somehow survive on next to no sleep.”

Mulder groans. “You’re telling me I can’t even pretend he’s Skinner’s now?”

Chuckling, Scully reaches out and picks up her cup, taking a sip of tea. “Let’s have another.”

“Is it cold?”

“Hmm?”

Mulder looks confused as Scully sets down her cup. “Your tea.”

“No.”

“You said you wanted another.”

“I do.”

“But you haven’t finished that one.”

She smiles in amusement. “I meant another baby.”

“Oh I…what?” Mulder’s eyes widen as he takes in her words. He’s silent, looking a little shell-shocked at the suggestion. It’s not as if they’ve never broached the subject before, at least silently; after all they’d resumed sexual relations following William’s birth and as yet they hadn’t used any contraception, but they’d never spoken the words out loud before. Mulder wasn’t even sure Scully had wanted another child, or whether she just presumed it wouldn’t happen for them. But something has obviously prompted this confession. “You do?”

She nods, her smile fading as tears cloud her eyes. 

“How long have you been thinking about this?”

“A while now.” She sniffs. “More so over the past week. I just keep thinking about how quickly William’s growing up, and how nice it would be to give him a brother or sister…if we could. I see you with him and I want us to have all that again. But this time you’d be here for the whole thing.” She shakes her head. “It’s a silly idea.” She’s just about to stand up and take William to the nursery when Mulder reaches out and takes hold of her hand. 

“No Scully,” he replies. She’s not sure she’s ever heard him be quite so serious. “It’s not a stupid idea.”

“It’s not?”

“No.” He smiles, and suddenly her uneasiness disappears. “I think it’s a great idea.”

“You do?” Her voice is shaky now, and he knows she’s just seconds away from bursting into tears.

“Let’s do it.”

“Really?” She’d thought he might have reservations or at least need some time to think, but it appears Mulder is as enthusiastic about the idea as she is.

“Why not? You’re a great mom Scully, and William is a pretty cool little guy.” As if hearing his name, William shifts in his mom’s arms. “Like you say, this time I’d be able to experience it all, the good and the bad, and…well I want to. Let’s do it. Let’s have another baby.”

Her bottom lip trembles. “We might not be able to conceive,” she says, her voice thick with emotion.

“We didn’t think we would last time,” Mulder reminds her, his hand moving down to take hold of William’s. “And now look at him. Besides,” he adds with a grin. “We can certainly have fun trying.”

“You really want to do this?” 

It takes a minute before Mulder responds, nodding slowly, the smile never leaving his face. “I do. Don’t you?”

Her tears now falling, Scully leans in and kisses him soundly on the lips. “Yeah…yeah I do.”

Xxx

The first month, not surprisingly, is unsuccessful, and both partners take the arrival of Scully’s period in their stride. “We didn’t want it to happen too soon,” Scully says with a shrug, having spent the day with an over-energized William. “They’d be too close in age.”

The third month they have a glimmer of hope when Scully whispers to Mulder during dinner one evening that she’s late. Four days late for that matter. They both try not to get too excited, but it’s tough, particularly as Scully’s period usually arrives like clockwork. She’s been tired and irritable too, and the signs indicate that pregnancy could well be on the cards. But two days later, when Mulder returns home from work, his question is answered when he spots his partner waiting for him on the couch, a glass of wine in her hands and a recently opened box of tampons up in the bathroom. Her eyes are puffy and bloodshot, and Mulder immediately shrugs off his jacket, walks over towards her and envelopes her in his arms. “I’m sorry honey.”

“It’s ok,” she replies, in a manner which suggests it’s very much not okay. “We knew it might take a while. There’s always next month.” 

He says nothing, instead holding her tightly in his arms. He’s not even aware she’s crying again until he feels her tears begin to soak through his shirt. “I thought we got lucky again Mulder.”

“It’ll happen,” he says, pressing his lips to her forehead. Sniffing, Scully nods in agreement. He only hopes he’s right.

xxx

The fifth month Mulder pulls out of his partner’s body, then collapses onto his back breathlessly. “I’m getting to old for this,” he pants, catching sight of Scully’s lips twitching up into a grin. “I think you’re trying to kill me woman.”

“Hey, I don’t usually hear any complaints from you,” she replies, her voice deep and sultry, just like the women from those phone lines he never used to call. “In fact, need I remind you that this afternoon was your idea? You’re the one who wore William out this morning.”

Grinning, Mulder leans over and kisses her. “We love nap times.”

“Speaking of naps, he’ll be up shortly.”

“Give me an hour or so and I will be too.”

Rolling her eyes, Scully groans. “That’s bad.”

“I know, I know.”

“And an hour? Mulder, you are getting old. Maybe I should find a younger, fitter model to have babies with.”

“He’d never be able to afford your taste in clothes.”

Scully doesn’t look as though she’s in an hurry to move, so Mulder reluctantly rolls off of the bed and gets to his feet, aware that William will shortly be awake and calling out for attention. He pads over to the bathroom, cleans himself up and then walks back into the room, stopping short when he sees Scully, still naked, now lying with her feet up and over the headboard, her hips up in the air. Part of him wishes he had a camera to capture this, but he’s not quite ready to die. “Trying out new positions for later?”

She looks over at him and smiles sheepishly. “Just helping things along.”

Grabbing his boxers, Mulder slips them on and then sits on the edge of the bed, leaning over to kiss Scully’s still flat stomach. “Well I’ll be more than happy to help things along again once bedtime is out of the way. And you know, maybe your mom could take Will this weekend.”

“I thought you were heading out with the Gunmen?”

“I was.”

“But?” He’s suddenly distracted by the sight of Scully’s nipple, and he takes it into his mouth. Scully arches up in response, her hand moving to the back of his head, holding him in place. “But?” 

He’s amazed she can still concentrate, because he’s certainly finding it hard to focus. “I told them I had plans.”

“Plans? What plans?” 

Sighing, he sits back up. “Making babies.” Scully raises her eyebrows. “What? You told me now was a good time for us to try, so I figured I’d stay at home this weekend. I don’t want us to get to Sunday night and think we could have tried harder. You know me Scully, I’m diligent.”

“You told the guys we’re trying for a baby?”

“No, I told them you needed me to stay home and paint the bathroom.”

“If I need to paint the bathroom Mulder, I’ll do it myself.”

“That’s what Frohike said too. After he said I was whipped.”

Scully giggles and shakes her head. “He’s right Mulder, you are.” Tugging on his boxers, she pulls him towards her and kisses him tenderly just as a little voice sounds out from the baby monitor. “Up now,” William insists.

“Hold that thought,” says Scully, as she releases Mulder and he stands up. Without breaking her position, she reaches for the phone. “I’ll call mom.”

xxx

The eighth month Mulder is just clearing the dishes from breakfast when Scully comes out into the kitchen, having distracted William with a pop-up picture book. “So if you’ve got a list ready I’ll head to the store, then if we’ve got time before heading over to your mom’s I thought we could take Will to the pool. He loved it last week.”

“Yeah.” Scully replies absent-mindedly as she walks over to the counter and retrieves a hastily written grocery list. “I forgot to add eggs,” she says, about to grab a pen when Mulder reaches for the list and studies it. She knows exactly what he’s looking for. 

“Not this time,” she says deflated, and his heart sinks. He knows Scully is trying to take it all in her stride, that they both knew the odds weren’t in their favor, but as each month passes without any hint of pregnancy it’s still tough.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.”

“It’ll happen.”

She shrugs dismissively. “That’s what you said last month. And the month before that, and the month before that too.”

“Scully we figured it wouldn’t happen overnight.”

“I’m starting to think it won’t happen at all.”

Mulder reaches for her, but she steps back out of his reach. “Don’t be like this.”

“What? Realistic?”

“Don’t give up hope.”

“It’s a bit late for that.” She leans across and adds another item to the shopping list. Mulder knows she’s hoping he’ll drop it and change the conversation, but he’s not ready to do that.

“Scully, it hasn’t even been a year yet.”

“I just can’t keep doing this.”

“What?”

Finally she pulls back to look at him. “Every month I tell myself “this will be it”, even though I know the odds are against us. And every month I have to deal with the disappointment and try to pick myself up ready to try again…” Mulder wants to interrupt but she continues, cutting him off. “…and I just can’t do it.”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying I want us to stop trying.”

“You want to give up?”

She flinches at his words. “No, but I want to go back to living a regular life. I want to savor every moment with our son without feeling sad or guilty that he’s not about to have a brother or sister. I want to not cry every time I get my period. I want to spend time with my partner and for us to enjoy one another’s company instead of constantly thinking about egg meeting sperm. God Mulder, for just one night I would like to not have sex with you.” She wipes away her tears before they can fall, and Mulder takes the opportunity to close the gap between them and pull her into his arms.

“I’m sorry.”

“Me too. I like having sex with you.”

He chuckles, pressing his lips to her crown. “I know, and I’m glad. But you’re right, we have been putting a lot of pressure on ourselves lately.”

“I want a baby,” Scully sobs against him.

“I know. I do too.”

“I just…I keep thinking that we already have our miracle. Asking for another just feels like we’re asking for too much.”

“Scully, after everything you’ve been through, you deserve all the miracles you want.” She says nothing, instead clutching him tightly. “Maybe we could ease off a little,” he suggests. “Make it fun again. I’ll try taking you to dinner before getting you into bed.” At that he laughs. “We’ll keep trying for our miracle, and you know what? We have options now.” Options now that their lives were less dangerous away from the X Files. “If we don’t have a little miracle of our own doing, there are plenty of children out there in need of a home and a loving family.”

Scully pulls back to look up at him with watery eyes. “You’d adopt?”

“Why not?” He smiles. “They’d still be our children.”

“They? How many are we adopting?”

“However many you want,” replied Mulder, as Scully stands on her tiptoes to kiss his lips. Out of the corner of his eye he spots William tottering into the kitchen, his book now forgotten, and so Mulder abandons his partner briefly to scoop his son up into his arms, then returns to her side. “But in the meantime, let’s enjoy being with this little guy.”

Xxxx

The fourteenth month the Scully family gather together at their house to celebrate the 4th of July. William is racing around the yard with his cousins, while Scully is holding the newest member of her family, her two-week old niece Lucy. She’s smiling down at her, completely smitten, while the adults make conversation. Charlie is in charge of the barbecue after Bill’s attempts the previous night resulted in Scully, Tara and Matthew all retiring to bed early, feeling ill. Scully’s older brother has now been relegated to serving drinks, but that serves him just fine. “Mom, can I get you anything alcoholic?”

Maggie smiles and shakes her head. “I’ll stick with a hot drink, thank you sweetheart.”

“I’ll make it,” Scully says, moving to get to her feet. Maggie grabs her arm to stop her and stands up herself. “You stay right where you are, you still don’t look right Dana.”

“I know what will make you feel better,” says Bill, holding up a beer in the direction of his sister.

Scully’s scrunches up her face in disgust. “Not tonight,” she says, using her free hand to rub her stomach. “Your uncooked chicken is still punishing me.”

“Nonsense,” he replies as Mulder looks up and glances over at his partner, chewing his lip in thought. “That chicken was cooked. It’s not my fault you can’t handle real food. It’s yours for insisting on only eating salads and going on those fad diets.”

Mulder waits for Bill to move out of earshot before he leans across to his partner. “Was the chicken cooked Scully?”

She gently sways Lucy as the little girl suddenly opens her eyes and stretches, her face reddening. “Of course it wasn’t,” she insists, her voice drowned out by the cries of her niece. “I was sick. It must have been the chicken. What else could it…” She pauses when Emma, Charlie’s wife, steps out of the house and heads towards her crying daughter. It isn’t until Emma is soothing the baby that Scully turns back to Mulder, her eyes wide. “It’s food poisoning,” she says in a small voice. “Isn’t it?”

Mulder reaches out and takes hold of her hand. “It might be.”

“Okay.”

“Or it might not be.” They take a moment to process his words. “Have we got a test?” He gestures towards the house. Scully nods.

“Yeah.”

“Okay.”

Nervously they make their way inside without anyone noticing, then head straight up to the master bathroom. Mulder gives his partner some privacy to do the test, then she join him shortly after in the bedroom while they wait and wait and wait. When their time is up, Mulder stands, holds out his hand and then leads Scully into the bathroom. She hesitates, signalling for him to look first. He does so, his expression for once unreadable, then he nods to himself and turns back to her. She’s not sure she can look at him.

“I hate to say it.”

It’s negative, she thinks. She swallows hard, preparing herself for more disappointment.

“But Bill’s right.”

Now he’s got her attention. Scully gives her partner a questioning look. Suddenly Mulder beams at her, then moves forward to kiss her once, then twice, before his hands move down to cup her belly. “Turns out he can cook chicken after all.”


	2. Chapter 2

Mulder had once told Scully to never give up on a miracle, and he’d been right. Back then, almost five years ago now, Scully had been told she was barren, thinking her only chance of having a child of her own – through in-vitro fertilization – had failed. Then, a little over a year later she’d discovered she was pregnant against all odds, and nine months later William had been born, weighing eight pounds, nine ounces, inheriting his mom’s looks and his dad’s impatience and appetite. A miracle indeed. As he began to grow up into a healthy, happy, inquisitive and loving little boy, Mulder and Scully began to discuss the idea of having another baby. Scully had wanted to try, but she felt as though she was asking for too much. She’d already had one miracle granted, she’d told her husband at the time. Wasn’t it greedy to ask for another? Mulder convinced her otherwise, telling her that if anyone deserved it, it was her, especially after everything she’d been through. She was a great mom who adored their son, and she deserved to have another child to love. And so they set about trying for Baby Number 2, taking each month of disappointment, of the arrival of Scully’s period and failed pregnancy tests in their stride, telling themselves that it would happen eventually. Thirteen months later it did, three pregnancy tests confirming their suspicions. Their second miracle was on his or her way and, as a sonogram had verified earlier that afternoon, was thankfully healthy, the heartbeat strong. Maggie had looked after her grandson while Mulder and Scully attended their appointment, under the guide of shopping early for William’s Halloween party (which they’d hurriedly done after their appointment). She’d stayed for dinner and Mulder and Scully waited until after she’d left to tell their son their good news, wanting their little boy to be the first to find out, even though they weren’t entirely convinced he would understand what was going on – he certainly wouldn’t understand how much his life was about to change.

William was stretched out on the living room floor on his stomach, coloring furiously as he attempted to multitask and watch Barney and Friends on TV at the same time. He’d been bathed and was ready for bed, enjoying his last moments of freedom while the clock counted down to story time in now less than twenty minutes.

“William?” Scully called as she and Mulder entered the living room, settling themselves on the sofa. “Come sit with mommy and daddy a moment please.”

William frowned, pausing in his coloring. He looked as though he was about to protest, no doubt keen to fill his time before bed as productively as he could, but then he set down his crayons and got to his feet obediently. Scully suspected it had something to do with him asking earlier that morning how long it was until Christmas – he was now aware he had limited time to be a good boy until Santa arrived.

He pulled himself up onto the sofa, crawling onto Scully’s lap. She smiled, inhaling his freshly bathed scent. He was still her baby in some ways and always would be, and she only hoped he would adjust quickly to the new arrival. “Daddy and I have something to tell you,” she began, suddenly nervous, as though she was a teenager confessing an unplanned pregnancy to her parents rather than a grown woman who’d been planning a second child with her husband.

William looked up expectantly, and suddenly Scully was lost for words. Thankfully Mulder was on hand to help. “Remember when it was your birthday and you asked mommy for a little brother or sister?”

William scrunched up his nose at the question. “I asked for a baby brother.” He was as good as his mom, if not better, at calling out Mulder’s bullshit and remembering the finer detail.

“Right, you did.”

“I got a bike instead,” William continued, in case Mulder couldn’t quite recall.

“But you wanted a baby brother. Or sister.”

“I like the bike better than a baby brother.”

Mulder and Scully exchanged a look, realizing this was going to be a harder sell than they first thought.

“Well you’re a lucky boy, because it turns out you’re going to have a bike and a baby brother.”

“Or sister,” interrupted Scully, before William got his hopes up. “We’re going to have a baby.”

“We are?” He didn’t look too thrilled at the prospect.

“Yes sweetie.”

He glanced around the room, as though looking for something. The baby, his parents realized. “Where is it?”

“It’s in my tummy,” said Scully, as William glanced down at her stomach.

“In your tummy?”

“Yes baby.” With the hand that wasn’t wrapped around her son, Scully smoothed down her sweater to reveal her tiny baby bump. It was barely visible through her clothes but already she felt bigger now than she had done at the same point in her last pregnancy, though admittedly Mulder had been missing and she hadn’t exactly been taking good care of herself. Things were very different for them this time. “See? The baby is very small at the moment.”

“How small?”

“About the size of a lime.”

“A lime?” William’s eyes widened.

“It’ll get bigger, just like you did.”

“How did it get in your tummy?”

“Umm…” They should have realized he would ask this of all questions. There was no mistaking he was their child – inquisitive and full of questions. “Well, daddy put it there.”

“How?”

“He umm…he put a seed in there, which joined with –”

“A seed? Like a plant?”

“Well…in a way…”

“Do you have to water it to help it grow?”

Mulder grinned. William had recently been helping Maggie plant vegetables in her garden.

“It joins with an egg which a mommy makes,” Scully continued, her face flushing. Even Doctor Scully was finding this difficult.

“Scrambled egg?”

Unable to stop himself from laughing, Mulder decided to interrupt, fearing other questions William might ask. “Hey buddy, you’re going to be a big brother. Isn’t that cool?”

William looked over at him, his eyes as blue and mesmerizing as his mom’s, and just as curious. “When will he be here?”

“In about six months.”

“How long is that?”

Scully smiled. “Just before your birthday.”

“Will he play with my toys?” There was a hint of concern in William’s voice.

“Well, at first, when he or she arrives, she’ll be too small to play with anything. And as they get older, they might like different things to you.”

“I liked different toys to my sister,” explained Mulder.

“I’m having a brother,” William replied adamantly. “I asked for a brother, and when I ask Santa for toys he always gets them for me.” His parents exchanged a look.

“We don’t know that for sure,” said his mom. “We don’t know if it’s a boy or a girl. You might have a brother, or you might have a sister, but either way it will be fun.”

William sniffed, his enthusiasm fading as each second passed. “Leah has a sister and she cries all the time.”

“But Leah is a girl sweetheart, and you like playing with her.”

“Besides,” added Mulder. “All babies cry buddy, not just little girls.”

William’s shocked expression suggested that was news to him. “All babies?” Now he looked disgusted. “I don’t want a baby, mommy,” he said, reaching out to grab Scully’s hand. “I want another bike.”

Mulder chuckled, while Scully bit back a groan. She brushed her hand through her son’s fair hair. “I know baby,” she said. “You think that now, but I’m sure by the time your brother or sister comes you’ll be excited.”

But when Scully considered her son, realizing he was just a stubborn as both of his parents, suddenly she wasn’t quite so sure.


End file.
